Bill to protect consumers’ biometric data clears Washington state House

The Washington state House has once again approved a bill by Rep. Jeff Morris to protect consumers’ biometric data.

The House of Representatives recently voted 87-10 to pass the consumer protection bill.

House Bill 1094 would establish regulations and limitations on how biometric data (for example – iris scans, the way you type or tap a tablet, facial recognition and voice recognition) could be collected and used in the future in commercial and retail industries.

“We want businesses to think about these questions before they deploy the technology,” Morris said. “Too often with new technologies we get into a game of cat-and-mouse. This bill allows us to set a standard for how our most personal information may be used in the future.”

The bill, if passed by the Senate, would make it illegal for businesses to collect or sell your biometric information without permission and establishes terms on how long businesses can keep your biometrics before having to dispose of it.

“The strong vote in the House last year and this year shows the business community that they need to constructively engage on this very important consumer protection issue,” commented Morris.

House Bill 1094 is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Law & Justice on February 23.

Except for law enforcement purposes biometrics should be stored with the individual and not in the cloud or some backend database. Match on card (chip) or Match on device should used for 1:1 verification from the consumers personal device. Until companies can ensure the security of their database from breaches I’ll keep my biometrics with me. Companies won’t be able to ensure security until they start looking at it from a more wholistic view.